News

Feds hope public can help find child porn producer, rescue victim

By Matthias Gafni

Contra Costa Times

Posted:
12/20/2012 06:23:08 AM PST

Updated:
12/20/2012 09:55:19 AM PST

Click photo to enlarge

Jane Doe is described as a Caucasian female, 23 to 29 years old, with a medium build, brown hair with blond highlights and hazel/green eye color. She has a tongue piercing. (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement)

Federal immigration agents are asking the public to help find a child pornography producer and rescue the 4- to 5-year-old child she is believed to have sexually exploited and abused in a video recently uploaded and shared online.

With little to go on other than clear photos of the suspect's face, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are hoping "Jane Doe's" mug goes viral and news coverage and the public's social media efforts lead to her capture and the release of the young child.

It's one of the few times the Child Exploitation Investigations Unit, part of Homeland Security, has used this publicity strategy. Two suspects were arrested earlier this year after the agency distributed their photos to news organizations; the public then shared the information via social media.

The seven-page criminal complaint, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, details horrific sexual abuse and accuses Jane Doe of sexual exploitation. The 33-minute video is "one of the most egregious" investigators have ever encountered, said an ICE official who, not being authorized to speak to media, requested anonymity.

The video was uploaded for the first time Nov. 27, according to the complaint, and referred by Danish police who believed the video was produced in the United States.

"We think this child is in significant risk and that's why this is so time-sensitive," the ICE official said.

The suspect's identity and whereabouts are unknown, but authorities believe she lives in the United States.

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Jane Doe is described by investigators as a Caucasian female, 23 to 29 years old, with medium build, brown hair with blond highlights and hazel- or green-colored eyes. She has a mole on her left thigh and a tongue piercing with a white round stud with a pink dot. The video features only Jane Doe and the child.

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children officials determined the victim has not yet been identified or rescued.

In September, another Jane Doe suspect, Michelle Freeman, 40, was arrested along with her husband Michael Freeman, 39, after someone recognized Michelle's face in a Facebook post after ICE blasted the woman's mug shot across the country. Two child victims younger than 10, who had been featured in 200 explicit photos and two videos, were rescued after that Portland arrest.

In March, 36-year-old Timothy Valdez, of Modesto, was arrested on suspicion of molesting a boy in a child porn video after similar efforts.